STARKVILLE — When asked about her upcoming basketball fundraiser, Starkville Police Department Cpl. Kenya Bibbs’ face lights up, the same look she gets when she steps on the court with the familiar orange leather under her palm.
The Starkville High School alumna is excited to return to the Yellowjacket hardwood. Her homecoming will come as a member of two new teams, one consisting of fellow SPD officers and one of other SHS basketball alumni.
In preparation for SPD’s National Night Out on Aug. 2, Bibbs is hosting the first-ever “Hooping with First Responders” event to raise money for the action-packed night in early August.
“It’s mainly a fundraiser to help us pay for things like the hot air balloon and the bounce houses,” Bibbs said. “I’m getting out and doing the legwork so we can have the money for National Night Out instead of it coming out of my pocket. It’s mostly to pay for the things we’re going to have out there that aren’t free.”
The fundraiser game will begin at 1 p.m. July 9 in the SHS Gymnasium. Tickets are $5.
The event will consist of several teams, each made of 10 to 12 players, that will each play one game. Those include games between youth teams and other slated games between adult teams formed for the event. It will culminate with the headliner matchup between the SPD and Starkville Fire Department teams.
Any team of ages 9 and up are welcome to sign up and play against their peers, Bibbs said.
The goal of National Night Out and Hooping with First Responders is the same for Bibbs. She wants the community and first responders to learn about each other in a fun and non-stressful environment.
“It’s going to be a big challenge, but we wanted to make this fun,” Bibbs said. “We want the community to come out and see us in a different light. … The main goal is to build first responder relationships with the community. Anything we can do to help build a relationship with the community, the youth and young adults, that’s why we do what we do when we have community events. We want to have that good relationship with the people we serve.”
The competition has been a highly anticipated event between the SFD and SPD that has been roughly five years in the making. A softball tournament nearly happened a few years ago, according to Bibbs, but it was called off at the last minute.
SFD Chief Charles Yarbrough said he looks forward to playing against the police department and giving the two departments a chance to meet each other in a friendly but competitive environment.
“We’ve been trying to plan something like this between the police department for the last four or five years to give us a chance to get together and get to know each other,” Yarbrough said. “… I think it’ll give people the chance to see us out there and give the public an opportunity to meet some of the police officers and firefighters. You’ll be surprised how many firefighters and police officers don’t know each other.”
Yarbrough was approached with the opportunity about three weeks ago, and he signed himself up to be on the team.
“We have some older guys here, like myself, and I haven’t played basketball in a while,” Yarbrough said. “I used to be good at it. I was actually a pretty decent basketball player back in the day. I think some of our older guys may be a little scared, but once you start talking competition, they’re going to really start signing up.”
Bibbs said she may not be at the top of her game like when she graduated from SHS, but she is ready to show all she’s worth for what is sure to be an interesting game against the fire department.
“I know that I’m not in my prime, but I still work out a little bit,” Bibbs said. “I’m going to be out there to have fun, to say I shot a shot in a firefighter’s face. I won’t be doing any dunking, I can’t do all of that anymore. It’s mostly to have fun and build that relationship with each other, even, because we all work hand-in-hand with each other anyway.”
Bibbs is providing concessions for those coming to the event, and there will be entertainment between games and during halftimes.
“I’m going to be doing fun things too like a half-and-half (raffle),” Bibbs said. “This means you give me a dollar, you get a ticket. At halftime, between games, or at a timeout, I’ll get on the (microphone) and yell out the number pulled from a basket. The ticket holder will get half of the money that was raised in that length of time. I’m having a concession stand that I’m paying for out of my pocket, and I’ve had a few donations where I’ll be able to sell some sweets. … I’m even going to have one of my officers barbecuing for me.”
With the fundraiser less than a month away, there are already a handful of teams registered, and the teams can include anyone, not just first responders, though all first responders and frontline workers are encouraged to sign a team up.
For those interested in having a team, contact Bibbs at 662-769-0971. Team registration will be open for teams of 10 to 12 people until the final week of June. Bibbs is still deciding on team cost but said she wants it to be affordable and should have a price set soon.
“This is mainly to get the community to come out and support what’s going on,” Bibbs said. “I think everybody will love to see the first responders playing (against) each other. … Our game will be the final one of the night, so I hope that everyone can come out and have a great time.”
